TO THE NEW bags govt deal to build marketplace for startups and VCs

Noida-based digital technology firm TO THE NEW has bagged a deal to become technology partner of the government’s Startup India Hub, beating biggies such as TCS, EY and KPMG.Aritra Sarkhel | ETtech | February 17, 2017, 01:00 IST

Noida-based digital technology firm TO THE NEW has bagged a deal to become technology partner of the government’s Startup India Hub, beating biggies such as TCS, EY and KPMG.

TO THE NEW is building mobile application and a web portal for Startup India Hub that will function as a marketplace to connect startups with possible investors, officials said.

“Startup India Hub portal will be a single point of contact for the entire ecosystem and enable knowledge exchange and access to funding,” said Raman Mittal, chief marketing officer at TO THE NEW. “It will enable interaction and collaboration among various stakeholders in the dynamic startup ecosystem,” he said.

Mittal said the company had quoted Rs 1.75 crore to develop the application, which will be available on Android and iOS platforms.

The marketplace would be made in collaboration with Adobe experience manager and AWS cloud services.

TO THE NEW, which won the commerce ministry deal last month, has set up a 40-member team of engineers, UI and mobile app developers, and security experts. “In our testing lab the apps are used on more than 150 devices, platforms and browsers and even go under penetration testing,” Mittal said.

The Startup India Action plan was launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in January 2016 to engage with key stakeholders through email and a toll free number.

However, startups are not much excited about Startup India Hub portal as it’s similar to other platforms such as Mumbai Angel and Angel Ventures.

“New platforms like these will not give any additional advantages. Also most of the legal procedures have to be done offline, so I don’t see this offering any such value,” said Antony Kattukaran, founder of Chennai-based Tagalys.

Amitabh Saran, CEO at Bengaluru-based Altigreen Propulsion Lab, too, said the new platform may not make a difference.

Mittal and his team are working on shortcomings of the current model to ensure that the new format is fully interactive and makes a difference. “The app will be a one stop platform for all startups and VCs to interact in a dynamic environment,” Mittal said.

Founded in 2008 by Deepak Mittal, TO THE NEW is a 700 member strong organization with revenues of about 15 million in 2016-17 with major customers in the US. The firm counts Airbus, Google, Citi and Sony Entertainment among others as customers.